Carved in Wood

I love you.

Three simple words and yet they may be the most complex three words in the entire English language. What do they mean? What does it mean to say "I love you" to someone.. to something? I love something.. what does that mean?

I think everyone has this ideal definition and then this selfish definition of love. The ideal definition is that someone's going to love us unconditionally, unequivocally, without reason or merit or anything on our part.. We want this person to adore us, cherish us, care for us, and just..desire us. And yet, when WE say "I love you", what do we mean? Do we say it as a half-truth because- I think I love you because there's some emotional aspect in my heart that's pulling me toward you, so it MUST be love. But then a month later, two months later, twenty years later, how can we look at someone and say "I don't love you anymore"? Or, "I love you for what you can do for me"? "I love you because it's easy and convenient"? What is love?

Is love a feeling? Is love an action? Is love an emotion? Is love a being? A state? What is LOVE?

Far too often I think we get caught up in our own definitions and we end up loving ourselves more than we ever love anyone else and that confuses our ideas. We want people to love us in this amazing, incredible, fairy tale, happily ever after kind of way, but what are we willing to sacrifice of ourselves? Anything?

Or is it.. when the going gets tough, and things get hard and don't really make sense anymore, and your heart's just not quite in it... do you give up because you're not "in love"? What is love?

It is a resounding commitment that no matter what, no matter how angry, how hurt, how distant, how abandoned, how empty you feel.. it's not about you. I think that's where we get confused. We say "I love you", but we focus far too often on the "I" and not the "you". But that's what love is.. it's a focus on "you". "You" being the other person involved in the relationship. That I'll love you regardless of if you'll love me back, that I'll love you regardless of how many times you'll walk out on me, or leave me, or hurt me, or break me. I love you.

We see such a clear depiction of "I love you" from our Father. And yet we so often don't look at it that way. God shouted "I love you" from the Heavens when He created the earth. There wasn't even a mountaintop for God to shout on, so He created one. There wasn't a picture for the vastness of His love, so he created the oceans to measure the depth and width of it to show us He loves us!

Over and over throughout history we walked away, we threw in the towel, we loved ourselves, we loved other gods.. and yet God said, "I love you". And He'd bring us back time and time again. He brought His people back. I love you.

And then, ultimately, He sent His Son, because no amount of His shouting from Heaven, "I love you", no amount of His "look at creation.. look at what I made... I did this because I love you", none of it phased us, didn't affect us, didn't change us, didn't make us want to say "I love you back with all of my being". But we wrapped ourselves up in this pharisaical world of rules and laws and rituals... instead of embracing the freedom to dance and enjoy and embrace grace and mercy and passionate love. So He sends His Son... His Son steps down out of Heaven and says, "I love you enough that I'm going to leave the perfect for the imperfect. I'm going to leave beauty for ugliness. I'm going to walk headlong into a sin-filled world and never embrace it, but only love those who do." And finally He shouts from the top of His lungs on a cross "Forgive them..." forgive them....
God so loved...

From the cross His blood screamed "I LOVE YOU.. You... I love YOU this much.. more than enough... And you put me here.. you hated me and you put me here.. Your sinfulness, your wickedness, your selfishness led me to this place. But even in the midst of that I declare that I love you. That I will always love you." This is what love is...